Apple seems to be doing some self-reflection about its new Apple News+ after the subscription based service after a lackluster start of the new service. According to a new report from Business Insider, “multiple publishers have expressed concerns about early numbers that show the new Apple service hasn’t lived up to its billing.’
Apple News is going back to the drawing board with its 3-month-old Apple News Plus after a slow start for the news subscription bundle, according to publishers who have had conversations with the phone maker.
In many cases, the revenue these publishers are getting is far below what Apple promised.
But three months in, publishing execs who spoke for this article said the subscription revenue they’d gotten from the service was underwhelming based on two months of data after the trial ended. Some publishers have called the revenue underwhelming One publishing exec said Apple projected publishers would get 10 times the revenue they made from Texture at the end of Apple News Plus’ first year. “It’s one twentieth of what they said,” the exec said. “It isn’t coming true.” Other publishers said their subscription revenue from Plus was lower than or on a par with what they got on Texture, which was small as a subscription driver to begin with.
Apple hasn’t responded to the report publicly but will know it needs to keep publishers happy for News Plus to be a success. Later this year it’s also launching Apple Arcade, a mobile games bundle subscription.